How to learn to speak a new language

Overcoming the language barrier

Christmas is in all probability one of the most special times of the year due to the beginning of a new year which seems to give us the strength and courage we need to pursuit our dreams. 

In this special month, when new resolutions await us, the arrival of the New Year offers us again the chance to achieve new goals. but before we welcome the New Year let’s say goodbye to the one that just passed by. This year I would like to wish everyone from everywhere who is living locally and has been trying to speak Spanish: don’t despair.

The main difficulty when approaching a new language is to overcome the language barrier. When we want to communicate with natives sometimes we have to resort to "Spanglish" and in fact Spanglish is not only an isolated phenomenon anymore; it has become a linguistic reality. Spanglish is a PhD in some American Colleges, which has its own grammar, and there are even books published completely in Spanglish, for instance, the first part of El Quijote has already been translated into Spanglish. However, Spanglish may bring misunderstandings when the two languages are not balanced.

It’s true that communication is not always verbal, sometimes it overpasses words; however, most of the time words are often needed when we want to communicate effectively on the daily basis and when we mix languages we don’t know which words are going to be the right ones for the listener to understand.

When dealing with a situation in which we have to face a language we don’t fully understand, the desire of speaking that language escalates and the feeling of making it possible appears. However, the most important thing we need to know at the beginning is why we want to learn Spanish and how we are intending to achieve that goal as the strategy you may use to learn Spanish needs to be consistent with your personal needs and aspirations since your reasons for learning determine which linguistic aspects you need to master. 
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At the moment, if you really want to learn Spanish the only homework you need to do this Christmas is to answer the two questions above. Once this is done, you will be closer to your personal goal. I wish you all the best for the coming year and hope all your dreams come true.